Carrefour first-quarter revenue up 5.6%

MimosaSpencer

PARIS (MarketWatch) -- French supermarket giant Carrefour (12017.FR) Wednesday posted a 5.6% rise in first quarter revenues, lifted mostly by an increase in sales space, and with the fastest sales growth coming from Latin America and Asia.

Revenues for the world's largest retailer after Wal-Mart
WMT, +1.35%
of the U.S. were EUR21.48 billion for the first three months of the year, compared with EUR20.42 billion for the same period last year.

The figure slightly beat analysts' expectations. An average estimate of five analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires pegged the quarterly sales at EUR21.35 billion.

Revenues in France, closely eyed by analysts because they account for around half of group sales, were EUR9.85 billion compared with EUR9.7 billion for the same period last year, or down 0.4% on a like-for-like basis.

In its revenue statement, the company said it opened 203,000 square meters of new store space and is on track to meet its target of opening 1.5 million new square meters of sales floors.

Carrefour shares have risen steadily - to as high as EUR58.14 on April 6 - since Colony Capital and Groupe Arnault announced last month they had amassed a 9.1% stake in the retailer. Analysts expect the new investors to push Carrefour to restructure its real estate portfolio, citing Colony Capital's role in the restructuring of French hotels group Accor (12040.FR).

Carrefour's performance in recent quarters has disappointed investors and the company's 2006 revenue statement in mid-January prompted shares to fall to their lowest level since mid-2006 at EUR42.82.

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